The new 4G technology coming to Reading should provide download speeds five times greater than 3G

Superfast 4G mobile could help firms to innovate, boost productivity and cut costs when it is rolled out in Reading, a boss of digital communications group EE has said.

The new service, which should provide download speeds five times greater than 3G, is due to be available in the town by March.

But experts are also warning users about the potential costs involved and say increasing access to faster speeds will simply lead to more demand.

EE, which runs Orange and T-Mobile brands, already provides 4G to 14 towns and cities in the UK and announced before Christmas Reading will be one of 17 further locations to be plugged in by March.

Martin Stiven, vice president of business at EE, told Business Post: “I do think for Reading in particular this is great technology that will support a lot of the hi-tech business you have in the area.”

4G will allow mobile customers to access the web in an instant and download large email attachments, watch live TV and videos without buffering.

Mr Stiven said: “If you think about the generic benefits, it means you are going to be able to download any data you are using faster and not just slightly faster but five times faster.

“A great example of what that could mean for businesses in Reading is Microsoft Lync, which involves video conferencing.

“All of a sudden video conferencing out of the office becomes possible. With the extra speed, it brings to life those applications which you might not consider using with 3G.”

Research carried out among companies with 4G in the US showed 76 per cent said the technology allowed them to innovate and jump ahead of the competition.

Eight out of 10 said more work was done on the move and 47 per cent of respondents said 4G had saved their company money.

Mr Stiven says the technology will be useful for small businesses as well as the big corporations and the pricing will not be prohibitive.

He said: “You decide what size package you want and the pricing is in line with that.

“You won’t be able to go out of bundle so if you got to the point where you were close to your limit you would get a message to tell you.”

To access 4G, users will need a 4G capable handset, the right SIM card, to be signed up to a 4G plan and have 4G coverage in the area.

Mr Stiven said: “The average person at home is getting between 2-8Mb and very often on the mobile you are getting way in excess of that. When you experience that it’s instantaneous – it’s really incredible. You don’t want to go back.”

Robin Kent, managing director of Reading-based Adax, a hardware and software supplier to network operators, struck a tone of caution before people get too excited about the arrival of 4G.

He said: “It’s not going to be an immediate answer to the bandwidth problems that exist today. It’s a bit like the M25, every time they have built another lane more cars have used it.

“You can keep giving people more bandwidth but if you keep giving people more and allow them to use it to their heart’s content you don’t solve the problem.

“There’s already talk about 4G Advanced providing a bigger spectrum.”

Mr Kent is also calling on operators to ensure customers do not fall victim to ‘bill shock’ when it becomes easier to download large quantities of expensive data on a mobile device.

He said: “The user needs to know what’s going on his phone and the operator should have the ability to send you a message to tell you if unusual activity is happening on your phone.”

To allay fears of bill shock, EE yesterday announced a new range of line rental fees. Starting at £31 a month, the packages include up 20GB of data.